During a special gala dinner in London, the World Photography Organization announced the winners of the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards. After the ceremony, German photographer Boris Eldagsen declined his award. , try to discuss the role of AI in photography.
If you are not familiar with the Sony World Photography Awards, this is a competition for photographers and photographic artists established in 2007. Now it is one of the largest and most prestigious photography competitions. In the world. It consists of four different competitions: Professional, Open, Student and Youth.
The awards gala was held in London on April 13, where the winners of the event were announced and awarded. The event was presented by broadcaster and art historian Kate Bryan.
More than 415,000 images have been submitted worldwide, from more than 200 countries. From these contributions, photographer Edgar Martins from Portugal was awarded Photographer of the Year for the series “Our War”. The series was born from his search for the truth about the death of his friend and photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was killed in 2011 during the Libyan Civil War.
This year there is also a special Sustainability Award presented to Alessandro Cinque from Italy. His “Atrapanieblas” series captures an innovative solution to water shortages in Lima, Peru using special fog nets. Water is collected for local residents using these fog nets, which can capture up to 200 liters of water per day.
Professional contest winner
The winners of the Professional Competition are selected from participants who submitted a series of five to ten photos. This year’s winners are:
- Architecture and Design: Fan Li from Mainland China with the series “Cement Factory”.
- Creative: Lee-Ann Olwage from South Africa with the “Right to Play” series.
- Documentary project: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham from the UK with the series “Women’s Peace Movement in the Congo”.
- Environment: Marisol Mendez from Bolivia with Federico Kaplan from Argentina for their “Miruku” series.
- Landscape: Kacper Kowalski from Poland for the “Event Horizon” series.
- Portfolio: James Deavin from the UK with the entry “Portfolio”.
- Portrait: Edgar Martins from Portugal for the “Our War” series.
- Sports: Al Bello from USA with series “Successful female professional baseball player in all-male professional league.”
- Still life: Kechun Zhang from Mainland China for the “Garden in the Air” series.
- Wildlife and Nature: Corey Arnold from the United States with the series “Cities Gone Wild.“
Unfortunately, not all winners from Mainland China were able to attend the awards gala, but they responded with a video message broadcast during the event.
All winning sequences can be found on Sony World Photography Awards 2023 website.
Photographer of the Year
There were 10 winners in the Open category, with Dinorah Graue Obscura from Mexico winning Open Photographer of the Year with this shot of two caracara birds.
Student Photographer of the Year belongs to Long Jing of Yunnan University of the Arts. Another Chinese photographer, Hai Wang, 19, was awarded Young Photographer of the Year. Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi has been rewarded for her outstanding contributions to the art of photography, capturing intimate images of moments of everyday life.
For the Open Competition, the following winners have been announced:
- Architecture: Mark Benham from the UK.
- Lifestyle: Azim Khan Ronnie is from Bangladesh.
- Audience: Mieke Douglas from the Netherlands.
- Travel: Max Vere-Hodge from UK.
- Motion: Zhenhuan Zhou from Mainland China.
- Portrait: Sukhy Hullait from the UK.
- Landscape: Giorgos Rousopoulos from Greece.
- The natural world and wildlife: Dinorah Graue Obscura from Mexico.
- Street photography: Andreas Mikonauschke from Germany.
There are no winners for the open creative contest category
If you search for the winners of the Open Creative Competition, you will only find a shortlist of photographers, not winners. The award was first presented to a German photographer named Boris Eldagsen for his photograph “The Electrician”. But after being awarded the award, he took to the stage right after the gala to decline the award. He claims it’s an AI-generated image, part of a series called “Pseudomnesia: Fake Memories”. With his action, he wants to draw attention to more and more AI-generated photos and start a discussion about the role of AI in modern photography.
The photograph is no longer displayed or mentioned on the Sony World Photography Awards 2023 website.
Exhibition at Somerset House, London
From April 14 to May 1, 2023, you can visit the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London. All winning photos are on display, including a collection of 20 photos by photographer Rinko Kawauchi from Japan.
There is also a personal presentation by Adam Furguson, winner of the 2022 Photographer of the Year award. His “Silent Wind, Roaring Sky” series shows the remote lives of communities in the outback. Australia’s refuge. For more information, you can visit World Photography Organization website.
